Section 495B-121-315 - Student conduct committee-Procedure and evidence(1) Proceedings of the student conduct committee shall be governed by the Administrative Procedure Act, chapter 34.05 RCW.(2) The student conduct committee chair shall serve all parties with written notice of the hearing not less than seven business days in advance of the hearing date. The chair may shorten this notice period if both parties agree, and may also continue the hearing to a later time for good cause shown.(3) The committee chair is authorized to conduct prehearing conferences and/or to make prehearing decisions concerning the extent and form of any discovery, issuance of protective decisions, and similar procedural matters.(4) If a request for a document exchange is filed at least five business days before the hearing by any party or at the direction of the committee chair, the parties shall exchange, no later than the third business day prior to the hearing, lists of potential witnesses and copies of potential exhibits that they reasonably expect to present to the committee. Failure to participate in good faith in such a requested exchange may be cause for exclusion from the hearing of any witness or exhibit not disclosed, absent a showing of good cause for such failure.(5) The committee chair may provide to the committee members in advance of the hearing copies of: (a) The conduct officer's notification of imposition of discipline (or referral to the committee); and(b) The notice of appeal (or any response to referral) by the respondent. If doing so, however, the chair should remind the members that these "pleadings" are not evidence of any facts they may allege.(6) The parties may agree before the hearing to designate specific exhibits as admissible without objection and, if they do so, whether the committee chair may provide copies of these admissible exhibits to the committee members before the hearing.(7) The student conduct officer, upon request, shall provide reasonable assistance to the respondent in obtaining relevant and admissible evidence that is within the college's control.(8) Communications between committee members and other hearing participants regarding any issue in the proceeding, other than procedural communications that are necessary to maintain an orderly process, are generally prohibited without notice and opportunity for all parties to participate, and any improper "ex parte" communication shall be placed on the record, as further provided in RCW 34.05.455.(9) In cases heard by the committee, each party may be accompanied at the hearing by a nonattorney assistant of their choice. A respondent in all appeals before the committee, or a complainant in an appeal involving allegations of sexual misconduct before the committee, may elect to be represented by an attorney at their own cost, but will be deemed to have waived that right unless, at least four business days before the hearing, written notice of the attorney's identity and participation is filed with the committee chair with a copy to the student conduct officer. The committee will ordinarily be advised by an assistant attorney general. If the respondent and/or complainant is represented by an attorney, the student conduct officer may also be represented by a second, appropriately screened assistant attorney general.(10) At the option of the college president, the college may appoint an administrative law judge as a hearing officer responsible for handling procedural matters otherwise assigned to the chair and to conduct the hearing on behalf of the student conduct committee.Wash. Admin. Code § 495B-121-315
Decodified by WSR 21-07-085, Filed 3/18/2021, effective 4/18/2021. Recodified from § 495B-121-120.